Thursday, July 5, 2012

One of the best things about mothering the third time around is my mommy confidence. I still second guess myself a little, but I find myself much more self-assured in what I am doing as a mom. Its so much easier to cuddle, dress, change, wash, feed and generally deal with a baby after having done it twice prior. I remember my super caution when Lilly was born, being ever so gentle with her, afraid she might break. Now, I am much more at ease with myself and my parenting. I know all babies, and all kids, are different, and we have already dealt with two starkly contrasting personalities with Lilly and then Ryley. I know Avery will be different still, but it is nice to have been down this road before.

That being said, I could use some advice from my mommy (and daddy!) friends out there. My pediatrician is a tried and true believer in the "Ferberizing" method for sleep. It seems really extreme, but when you actually research the term, it isn't about totally letting baby cry it out for an endless amount of time. Instead, its about helping baby learn to soothe themselves to sleep. My pediatrician recommends waiting until baby is about 4 months old. He says this is the perfect time to help Avery learn to soothe herself, and that it will get harder to break bad sleep habits if you wait until after the 6 month mark or so. Don't get me wrong, I am actually a little sad about it. I like cuddling her, letting her fall asleep in my arms. It's just that during the day, I have trouble getting her to take a nap on her own. I rock her to sleep, put her down. It is always 20 minutes or less, and she is awake, crying, and still tired. At night, she sleeps like a dream. Twelve solid hours a night. But during the day, she consistently wakes up, still tired. If I hold her, she sleeps. If I put her down, she wakes. Without fail. I don't remember ever having trouble with the other girls napping as a baby. I've been wondering if trying to help her soothe herself to sleep will help her sleep more soundly during the day. Sure I could put her in my sling and cart her around while she sleeps, and sometimes I do. That is just not an everyday solution. At least not to me it isn't. It would be really nice to get Miss Avery into a better sleeping routine for daytime! Any ideas?

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Well, its already been a month since we took Avery on her first camping excursion, Dale Hollow Lake. It was also my nephew Paxton's first camping trip too, and we had so much fun!! The weekend prior, it had been 95+ degrees, so we were worried about how hot it was going to be. In actuality, it was much cooler than we thought, and we all ended up in hoodies and sweats during the evening and early morning hours. Luckily, it was still warm enough during the day to head to the lake, or the swimming pool. We all had a blast, one big (all 18 of us!) happy family!